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Antonio Sagardía Ramos
Kingdom of Spain Nationalist faction |branch = |serviceyears = |serviceyears_label = |rank = General of the artillery |rank_label = |servicenumber = |unit = |commands = Military Governor of Cartagena |battles = Spanish Civil War |battles_label = |awards = |memorials = |spouse = |children = |relations = |laterwork = Inspector General of the ''Policía Armada'' |signature = |signature_size = |signature_alt = |website = |module = }} Antonio Sagardía Ramos (Zaragoza, 5 January 1880 – Madrid, 16 January 1962) was a Spanish military officer who fought for the Nationalist faction in the Spanish Civil War. He became known as the "Butcher of Pallars" (carnicero de Pallars) because of the massacre committed under his command in Pallars Sobirà. Jaume Cabré (2007); De stemmen van de Pamano, pág. 99 Biography Sagardía Ramos was born in the Aragonese capital of Zaragoza, in a Basque–Navarre family. He joined the Spanish Army from a young age and in 1921 he rose to the rank of colonel. After the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic in 1931, he accepted the of Manuel Azaña (Azaña Law) and retired from the Army. Role in the Spanish Civil War Once the Spanish Civil War began following the Spanish coup of July 1936, Sagardía Ramos was called by one of the rebel leaders, General Emilio Mola, to rejoin the Army. He immediately commanded a unit of Falangist volunteers with whom he intervened in the Campaign of Gipuzkoa. In August and September 1937, Sagardía Ramos took part in the War in the North and participated in the Battle of Santander, at the head of the so-called "Sagardía Column"; the unit exercised a harsh repression against the civilians and soldiers of the Republican faction, including numerous extrajudicial killings. Julián Sanz Hoya (2009); La construcción de la dictadura franquista en Cantabria, pág. 124 After the War in the North ended, the "Sagardía Column" was reorganized as the 62nd Division of the , at the head of which he took part in the Aragon Offensive. In April 1938, Sagardía's troops were deployed in the Battle of the Segre, in which they hardly encountered any resistance. Montse Armengou, Ricard Belis (2004); Las Fosas Del Silencio: ¿hay un Holocausto Español?, pág. 143 But in the face of casualties suffered by his column after a Republican attack, he said: Esther Rodríguez (2005); Els maquis, Cossetània Edicions, pág. 21}} In May 1938, several extrajudicial killings took place that ravaged the [[Comarques of Catalonia|Catalan comarca]] of Pallars Sobirà and resulted in 67 people shot, good part of them women, elderly and children. In January 1939, Sagardía Ramos participated in the Catalonia Offensive. A few weeks later he participated in the final offensive of the Spanish Civil War, and on 30 March he entered Alcalá de Henares at the head of his unit. Monumento a una columna franquista Post-war career After the Civil War ended, he was appointed Inspector General of the new ''Policía Armada'', Montse Armengou, Ricard Belis (2005); El convoy de los 927, Plaza & Janés, pág. 277 and as such he was part of the delegation that visited Nazi Germany in September 1940. Ignacio Merino (2004); Serrano Suñer: conciencia y poder, Algaba Ediciones, pág. 70 The following month, he was one of the personalities that received Heinrich Himmler in San Sebastián, during the . He subsequently served as military governor of Cartagena. Bibliography * — (1940). Del Alto Ebro a las fuentes del Llobregat. Treinta y dos meses de guerra de la 62 División. References Category:1880 births Category:1962 deaths Category:Aragonese people Category:People from Zaragoza Category:Spanish military personnel Category:Spanish military personnel of the Spanish Civil War (National faction) Category:Spanish generals Category:Spanish police officers Category:Spanish anti-communists